Status Update
by PhoenixRising360
Summary: For Tony, being a jerk was a way of life…until Tim says something that makes him think. Inspired by and written for the Random Dialogue challenge at NFA, coinciding with the Titular Challenge part 3. Title taken from season 12, episode 8 but this is not a tag for that episode.
1. Chapter 1

Author note: The random dialogue quote that inspired this story is in the first paragraph.

NCIS NCIS NCIS

STATUS UPDATE

CHAPTER 1

Tony DiNozzo's gut clenched as he replayed Tim McGee's words in his head. "You make me feel like I'm not good enough."

He was a jerk. He and his frat brothers practically made a sport of it in college. You were either a jerk right back or they ate you alive. Most men he had ever known were jerks or worse; often worse. Even Tim McGee himself was a jerk, though Tony had to admit, he was less a jerk than most men he'd ever met. It was one of the reasons Tony liked the guy. Tony thought of all the times Tim was a jerk to him, and sighed. Tim had to be pushed to be a jerk, and he had no doubt that Tim hated himself later for it when he was. Well, except with him, maybe. He was a bigger jerk to Tim than Tim ever thought about being to anyone else.

Tim had walked away in frustration when Tony hadn't responded and Tony had no doubt that had made Tim even more angry. There had been something in the way Tim had said it that had stopped Tony's words in their tracks. He had tried to let it go, but he was honest enough to admit he hadn't tried that hard to let it go. After all, no one knew better than he did how bad it felt to never measure up.

Tony sat at his desk long after everyone left, even Gibbs, and silently berated himself. It was bad enough he often felt he wasn't good enough, often wondered why Gibbs kept him around, but it hadn't occurred to him that he made Tim feel that way. He respected Tim, admired him even. Tim was a good agent, sometimes better than average, sometimes not. His computer expertise often helped them access more information and solve cases more quickly. He remembered when Gibbs asked his opinion about McGee and Tony acknowledged he would be an asset though he hated to admit it. At the time he worried that Gibbs would find him wanting in all the ways that mattered, but though Gibbs never said as much, Tony worried less about it now. His skill set was different than Tim's, and he recognized they all brought something important. It was what made them so good at what they did.

He thought about his comments to Tim and winced. So yeah, he was riding Tim about women again and okay, maybe his comments did imply that he wasn't good enough for any woman. If he was honest with himself, and yeah, right now was the time for honesty, he knew that wasn't true. The truth was…He wasn't good enough for most women, and Tim genuinely liked women, respected them, and by all appearances, it wasn't all about sex for him. Tim was the marry forever kind of guy, like Gibbs if Gibbs could get his act back together. He didn't feel like he was good enough for most women so he ragged on McGee to cover it up.

Tony shook his head though he didn't realize he was doing it. He could never admit that. Besides, it wasn't just about women. It was about his obvious geekiness, socializing skills or lack thereof, and his inability to think fast on his feet.

Okay, sometimes Tim did think fast on his feet, usually with him, but in other situations, not so much. Tim was better at it than he used to be, but it didn't come as naturally to him. One of the reasons he was so rarely sent under cover was because he too often froze to process instead of rolling with the punches. Tim had an exacting, analytical mind and when the object of his analysis was under his direct control, like a computer, he understood that, processed it quickly and efficiently but take something unpredictable and complicated like a human being and that was where Tim sometimes floundered.

Though he was sometimes really good at getting him back when it counted. Maybe that was just a consequence of having known each other so long. At first though, Tim seldom had a good comeback or any comeback at all. Now, Tim knew him, probably better than Tony wanted to admit.

Tim had come a long way from his stuttering probie days and that fact went unacknowledged. That had to change, Tony realized. He had to change. He ran his hands down his face, and finally stood up. He looked at his watch and noted the time was 1900 hours. Still early.


	2. Chapter 2

Tony showed up at McGee's apartment forty-five minutes later, a bag in hand and he knocked respectfully on the door.

Tim answered the door a moment later looking confused. "Tony?"

"Hey Tim, hope this isn't a bad time." Tony could see Tim was still annoyed with him, but he needed to start fixing this and the sooner the better.

"Since when do you care when anything is a bad time or not?"

 _Ouch_ , Tony thought. _Okay, I deserved that_. "Since now," Tony said, no sarcasm or amusement in his voice. He held up the bag which contained two Styrofoam containers. "I come bearing a peace offering. Brought dinner."

"A peace offering?"

"Yeah."

Tim seemed to study him for a minute before he stepped back and let Tony in.

"We can eat at the table," Tim said jerking his head toward the small table adjacent to the kitchen. Tony noticed that the only thing on it was a napkin holder. He hadn't been here in a while but he remembered the table being piled with stuff last time.

Tony took out the containers of Chinese food and opened one of them. Seeing that it was Tim's, he set it at Tim's spot. "You'll need a wine glass," Tony said, pulling out a beer for himself.

"You bought me wine?"

"I know you don't really like beer."

Tim didn't say anything as he brought a glass and forks over to the table and Tony filled the glass.

They sat down and started eating but Tony picked at his food more than ate it. Finally, he put his fork down. "Okay, so…I'm going to break rule six."

Tim's eyes narrowed and he set his own fork down.

"I rag on you a lot, but I don't mean it when I do."

"Could've fooled me," Tim said, derision dripped around his words.

"I know you're a good guy and I admit, I enjoy getting a rise out of you."

Tim rolled his eyes.

"You're doing a lousy job of breaking rule six, Tony."

"I'm working up to it," Tony said.

"Work faster because I'm losing my appetite."

"Right, so, I enjoy getting a rise out of you because it helps you to stand up to me and if you can stand up to me, you can stand up to criminals who have intimidation down to a science."

"I already know I can stand up to criminals, Tony."

"Yeah, I know you can, too. I just…Well, been ragging on you so long I forgot how to relate to you otherwise."

"You didn't forget; you just never knew at all. Or cared to know."

"Hey, that's not true. We've been friends for a while."

"Have we? Hasn't always felt like it."

Tony's face fell. "I…uh…actually consider you one of my best friends."

Tim looked skeptical.

"I really do. I just…yeah, I should've told you that."

"Ya think, DiNozzo?"

Tony shuddered. "Okay, you channeled Gibbs a little too well there. Don't do that again."

Tim snorted.

"I rag on you because I like you. I thought you knew that."

"Yeah, you like me because you think you're better than I am about everything except computers. Better at getting women, better at making friends, better at being an agent, better at life," Tim added the last with derision in his voice.

"Well, I am better than you at all those things."

Tim opened his mouth to say something and Tony could see his face turn red in anger, and Tony held up his hand to stop him. "But not better at everything. Not better at most of the stuff that really matters. Better than you as an agent, well, that's experience behind that. I've been an agent longer and I was a cop before that. But better at getting women…" he trailed off and then shrugged. "Charming a woman is easy, but they figure out pretty quick that I'm not their happily-ever-after. Better at making friends…well, I know you haven't met my father but I learned that when I was barely old enough to walk." Tony snorted at the thought. "Anyway, you are the kind of guy who believes the best of everyone and I'm not. You will take the shirt off your own back to help someone else. You're the guy who will make a woman feel like she's the only woman in the world and I…don't. When it comes to basic human decency, you're one of the best I've ever met."

Tim's mouth fell open in shock. "I…"

"I rag on you because it's fun, but also because I know you'll put up with it. I didn't mean to make you feel like you're not good enough. I didn't even realize that's what I was doing. But…I'm still going to rag on you, McGeek, so don't think just because I'm saying all this that you're going to be off the hook." Tony grinned but he felt heat rise in his face. He hated having conversations like this, but this time it was necessary.

Tim looked away and he started picking at his food again, even taking a few bites. Tony picked up his own fork and let him process in silence. It wasn't completely comfortable, but it wasn't an unfamiliar silence. It reminded him of the times at work when they focused on a case.

After a few minutes of silence, Tim set his fork down again. "I don't know what to say."

Tony shrugged and finished chewing and swallowing. "You don't have to say anything. I'm the one who made you feel like crap, remember?"

"Yeah, you did," Tim admitted. "But I didn't expect you to show up and make nice."

"Yeah, well, seemed like the right thing to do. You should call me out more."

Tony watched Tim's face transition from confused to annoyed all over again as Tim rolled his eyes. "Right, because when I do, you always back off." Tim shook his head in exasperation. "Every time I've ever tried that, you just keep going, even worse than before."

Tony fidgeted a little. "Yeah, okay, you probably have a point."

Tim's voice rose in volume though he wasn't yelling. "That is my point, Tony! No matter what I say or don't say, you don't let up. I can take being teased, but you just won't quit until Gibbs slaps the back of your head. You may not mean to go too far but you always do and it just makes me want to punch you."

Tony grimaced and then put his hands up. "Okay, Tim. I get it. No punching necessary. I'll…try to do better to not go too far."

"Yeah?" Tim looked hopeful at the contrite expression on Tony's face.

"Yeah."

Tim looked a little doubtful and Tony didn't really blame him. "I can't promise I won't go too far. Sometimes I get caught up in the moment."

Tim shook his head. "Is it too much to ask for you to pay attention to how annoyed I am when you do that?"

"Up until now, yeah, probably, but I'll try harder."

"Really?"

"Yeah, Tim, really. I brought you dinner, didn't I? Wouldn't have done that if I didn't want to fix this."

Tim nodded. "Yeah, okay."

They ate in silence for a few minutes before Tim looked up again. "Thanks, Tony," Tim said quietly. "I really appreciate that."

Tony attempted a smile since he managed to say something right, but the whole time he wondered if he could actually keep his word. He hadn't made any promises, but he would try. He never intended to make Tim feel bad about himself, but he'd done it and now he owed it to the guy to try and fix it as best he could.

After they finished eating, Tony helped clean up and he shifted uncomfortably, not knowing what else to say. "I guess I'll take off," he said quietly. "See you tomorrow, Tim."

"Yeah, okay. Night, Tony."

As Tony headed out the door he got a glimpse of Tony's face. He looked pensive and Tim wondered if they really gained any ground or not.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day at work they were called out before everyone had arrived for work. Tim got there a few minutes early and he had just set his bag down when Gibbs walked up to his desk to get his gun and badge, instructed Tim to call Ziva and he called Tony.

Tony didn't say much at the crime scene. He took measurements and sketched the scene. He was quieter than usual. While it could be chalked up to the tasks he was working on, he'd done those tasks before and he wasn't this quiet. It felt strange. Tim helped process the scene but he kept stealing looks at Tony who seemed to be working diligently and quietly. He was used to Tony's teasing smile as he snapped a photo of him or Ziva, making jokes or telling a story. Even Ducky had looked twice at Tony and held his tongue, noticing the heavy silence of the crime scene.

It was the longest morning spent on a crime scene Tim could remember in a long time. He never realized how fast time went when Tony was talking. He thought about how annoyed he used to get but now, he appreciated it. He sighed and tried to dismiss his thoughts but he felt uneasy. He couldn't shake the feeling that the reason Tony was so quiet was because he screwed up somehow. Somewhere in the core of his being, he knew he'd been justified in saying what he did, but maybe it was that basic human decency that Tony had complimented him on that made him feel like he was the jerk.

 _Maybe I am_ , Tim considered. Tony had tried to apologize, though his method for doing it was pretty backward. Maybe it was a side effect of working with Gibbs for so long and Tim prayed he'd never be as much of a bastard as their boss. Gibbs was a good example of how not to behave around people, though he had to admit that it more often than not worked for him. It just wasn't fair. He had finally told Tony off but he was the one who felt like a jerk. Sometimes he swore the universe hated him.

He stole another glance at Tony who was looking back and forth from the victim to his sketch pad, carefully documenting what he saw and seemed totally focused on it. Okay, maybe he was making more out of this than there was, but he felt unsettled.

Once they finished processing the scene, which took hours due to the amount of blood and evidence involved, they returned to the office. Tony stayed in the lab and helped Abby log in all the evidence. After Ziva turned her computer on, she walked over to McGee's desk.

"Tim, have you noticed anything odd about Tony this morning?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he has hardly spoken, which is strange."

Tim shrugged. "We didn't say much either. Messy crime scene."

"I know, but usually he finds something to say."

"There was a lot of blood. Maybe the smell made him nauseous."

"He never seemed affected by it before."

"I don't know, Ziva. I was busy. I didn't really pay attention." It was a lie, but he really didn't want to talk about this anymore.

"Well, I think something is wrong." Ziva said and seemed to leave it at that. She returned to her desk. Tim carefully let out a breath and got back to work.

A half-hour later Tony arrived and sank into his chair. He looked tired. "No one take Abby any Caf-Pows today. She's bouncing off the walls. She can't remember if she's had three or four already."

Ziva chuckled. "Remember the day she had six?"

Tim shuddered at the memory. "Yeah, we were decrypting hard drives that day. I got dizzy just sitting there near here. She seemed everywhere at once."

"That's our bunny!" Tony chuckled.

"Bunny?" Ziva asked with a frown.

"Energizer bunny? Battery commercial?"

Ziva looked at him blankly.

"Never mind," Tony said. "I'll show you a video of it later."

Ziva shrugged and got back to work.

Gibbs joined them in the bullpen sometime later and Tim looked up as he watched Gibbs' eyes sweep over his team. His eyes fixed on Tony who was working quietly and Tim could see a little frown on his face and in that moment he could almost read Gibbs' thoughts. Tony was too quiet, too still, too focused. He glanced over at Tim and gave him a questioning look with a glance at Tony. Tim just shrugged and Gibbs acknowledged it with a slight nod.

Around one o'clock Gibbs sent Ziva to get lunch. The three of them kept working. Finally, Tony looked up and over at Tim. "Hey Tim, did any of the vic's family members have money?"

Tim froze. Tony had addressed him by name. Blinking at the surprise of not being called Probie, he hesitated a split second before he switched windows.

"Don't have the financials yet. Called the bank. Their computer system is down at the moment. Bank manager said he'd forward the information as soon as it was back up. Should be soon."

"Call him again. We need that info."

"Why? What'd you find?"

"Please just call him, Tim," Tony said not impatiently but without his usual flair.

Tim looked at him a little puzzled but did as he asked. The bank manager assured him that their IT guy was working on things and expected to have it up shortly.

When Tim hung up the phone he snuck a glance at Gibbs who was staring at Tony, a bit of a frown on his face.

"Something wrong, DiNozzo?" Gibbs finally spoke, and even Tim could see the concern in his eyes.

Tony didn't look up. "No, Boss. Just got a hunch."

When Tim printed off and handed Tony the financial information an hour later, Tony accepted it with a nod and nothing further was said. Tim had half-expected a joke about being his secretary but Tony never said a word. Tim stole another glance at Gibbs to find his boss already looking at him. It was then Tim wish he had Tony's skill at reading their boss. No doubt in his mind that Tony would know exactly what Gibbs was thinking. Earlier, it was obvious Gibbs was concerned about Tony, but now, the look he was getting…he had no idea exactly what that meant.


	4. Chapter 4

A couple of hours later, Tony unraveled his hunch and Gibbs sent Tim and Tony out to pick up a potential suspect.

"Why are you so quiet today?" Tim asked as soon as Tony got his seat belt on.

Tony looked over at Tim, a slight frown on his face. "We got a case."

"That's never stopped you before."

"We were busy."

"Tony," Tim said with a hint of warning that he wasn't going to let it slide. "Are you upset about last night?"

Tony shrugged. "I wouldn't say upset, no."

"Then what would you say?"

"I'd say you gave me a dressing down almost worthy of Gibbs. I get it, Tim. Don't worry about it."

"I didn't mean you shouldn't speak to me at all," Tim said. "You've hardly said anything to me all day."

"You said I tease you too much so I was giving you a break."

"So you don't talk to me at all? You can talk to me without teasing, you know."

"Yeah? About what? You get annoyed if I talk about movies. You get annoyed if I talk about women. You don't care about sports. Last time I asked you what you did the previous evening, it was none of my business. So, what am I supposed to talk to you about? Only thing we have in common is the job."

Tim stared at Tony for a minute in stunned silence as Tony pulled out of the parking space and into traffic. He knew they had little in common, but never realized that if Tony didn't tease him that they wouldn't have anything to say to one another. Tim always thought working for the most difficult boss in the history of the agency would be plenty enough to talk about, but he'd worked with both of them long enough that really, there wasn't much to say. Gibbs was a mystery wrapped up in an enigma cloaked in shadows. Plus, come to think about it, Tony didn't gossip the way he used to when Tim first started. In fact, Tony didn't seem to talk about people at all outside their team unless they were working a case and it always pertained to the case. He couldn't say that about himself.

Tony had a point, he had to admit with a sigh. "I didn't say you couldn't tease me at all," Tim said softly. "All I meant was that you had a bad habit of persisting in it long after you should stop. The only reason I told you my personal life was none of your business was because I knew you would find something to tease me about and I wasn't in the mood for it. There are a lot of times you tease me even though you know I'm already annoyed and you just make it worse."

"Was just trying to distract you from your mood."

"Well, I usually end up more annoyed than I was."

"Yeah, I get it. I'm annoying. Can we move on now?" Tony asked, a little annoyed himself. He huffed as his eyes scanned the traffic.

"You're not annoying all the time, Tony."

"You sure? That's the picture you've painted for me."

Tim sighed and squeezed the bridge of his nose. He'd made a mess of this and he wasn't sure how to fix it. Finally, he decided the old standby was best.

"I'm sorry, Tony. I didn't mean to make you feel like you were annoying all the time. You're not. Just sometimes it feels like I'm right back in high school again and yes, I get annoyed, but I do like working cases with you. Sometimes, like today, the way you figure things out is really cool. I wish I could do that."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

It was quiet for a few minutes as tension Tim hadn't realized was there eased.

When Tony stopped for a red light, he glanced over at Tim. "I like watching you work your magic on the computer. You find stuff that I wouldn't even know how to search for. We solve cases a lot faster than we used to."

"Yeah?"

"Oh yeah," Tony said emphatically. "I don't tell you enough that you bring a lot to the team. We both know Gibbs isn't going to do it, and I don't think of it because I assume you know, but I guess you don't."

"No, I didn't."

"Well, you do. I like working with you too, Tim."

Tim smiled and Tony smiled back before he turned back to the road. The traffic light turned green.

Tim thought for a moment before he spoke. "You know, I could teach you a few things about computer searches if you're interested. I know you're not big on using them, but sometime you may need to know, if something should happen and I can't do it."

"Yeah? You'd teach me?"

"Sure. Could get some takeout and make an evening of it. It's not that hard and you know the basics already."

Tony nodded, and he looked thoughtful for a minute. "I can't teach you how to figure things out the way I do. I don't even know how I do it most of the time. But sometimes, things follow a pattern, and I could show you those patterns when they come up, and show you how I figure out some of the things I do…if you're interested."

Tim smiled. "That would really help a lot." He thought about earlier trying to read Gibbs. "Can you also show me some of the ways you read people? I need some help with that."

"Absolutely," Tony said emphatically. "There's a lot I can teach you. You busy Saturday morning?"

"Uh, not that I know of, why?"

"Mall, Probie. We need to go to the mall. Lots of ordinary people, doing ordinary things. It's a great place to learn how to read people."

"Yeah, I can do that. Uh, if you don't have a date Friday night, you could come over, I could teach you the computer stuff, you could stay overnight and then Saturday morning after breakfast we could go to the mall."

"You only have one bedroom. I'm not sleeping with you, Probie." Tony looked over at him and smirked, teasing back in his eyes.

Tim rolled his eyes but he smirked back. "The sofa opens into a bed, which is actually pretty comfortable as sofa beds go."

"Hmm," Tony said and Tim could tell he was pretending to consider. "I guess that doesn't sound so bad. I hadn't made a date for Friday yet so yeah, we can do that."

"Sounds good."

"When did you get a sofa anyway?"

"Uh, five or six months ago, I guess."

"I noticed the old shelves full of stuff were gone. Did you do that then too?"

"Yeah. The way my apartment was set up…yeah, women weren't going to be interested because there was no room for them. So, I changed some things. Been adding furniture as I can afford it."

"Didn't get to see much of it last night. I was distracted by other stuff."

Tim nodded. He debated in his head for a minute about the next thing he thought about saying but since he and Tony had both hurt each other, maybe he could mend things a little. "If I tell you something, will you promise not to tease me?"

"Not sure I can keep a promise like that."

"Okay, will you promise to try not to tease me?"

"Depends on what it is." Tony smirked.

"Tony," Tim said with a warning tone and Tony grinned and held up his hand in mock supplication.

"All right, spit it out, McHesitant. I will try not to tease you, promise!"

Tim sighed. "You're the reason I decided to make changes." Tim watched Tony's reaction and though Tony never took his attention from traffic, he could see the surprise in his face.

"What?!"

"You know how you say I get annoyed when you talk about women?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I do listen to you. I got annoyed because I was doing most everything the opposite of what you said and since you never seem to have any trouble attracting women, I figured your advice couldn't be all bad. So, I made some of the changes I thought made sense."

"That why you lost weight? Started working out? Dressed better?"

"Yeah."

"Oh," Tony said, surprise in his voice. "If you'd asked, I could've helped you with the clothes and stuff."

"If I'd asked, you would've teased me."

"Well, yeah, but I still would've helped you."

Tim huffed and shook his head. "That's exactly why I didn't ask for your help. I didn't want to be put down. You do that enough already."

"Yeah, okay, you're right."

"If you could tease me without being insulting, I might ask for help."

"I'll work on that," Tony said simply as he pulled onto a residential street.

"Really? You'll work on that?"

"Yeah. I'd like for us to be real friends, Tim. You're a good guy. And you know, your apartment wasn't that bad the way it was...I mean, I could see a woman who was a geek like you really liking your old set-up even if I thought it was way too cluttered."

"It was cluttered," Tim admitted. "But you had a point. It's more comfortable now."

Tony grinned. "You having better luck with women now, Tim?"

Tim recognized Tony teasing him and after the silent day they'd spent so far, he smiled back, more relieved than anything else for the normalcy of it. "Maybe a little," he allowed, "but I'm still not giving you details."

Tony smirked. "Would never expect you to, Probie." Tony glanced out at the number on a house. "We're almost there."

Tim took a deep breath. "Were you serious? You want us to be friends? Really?"

"That so hard to believe?"

Tim had to admit this was a far cry from the other day. Maybe he and Tony were actually making progress. "A little, I guess, but yeah, I'd like that, too."

"Good!" Tony smiled as he pulled up in front of the house. "This is it. You ready to see if we can track down a bad guy, McSpecial Agent?"

Tim chuckled. "Yeah, Very Special Agent. Let's go!"

Tony and Tim grinned at each other and headed for the front door.


End file.
